Posts Tagged ‘Ross Detwiler’

The Nationals sent nine hitters to the plate in the first inning against Atlanta starter Ervin Santana last night at Nationals Park and scored four runs, an avalanche of offense that stunned the Braves and led Washington to its second win in a row against their division rivals. The final 6-4 score extended the Nationals lead in the N.L. East to nine games.

“They came out swinging the bats and were really, really aggressive with the first couple pitches of every at-bat,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “Usually, when they do that against [Santana], they get quick outs. But they found the outfield grass and put a big number up — four runs. We weren’t able to recover after that, but we battled.”

It would now take a near miracle for the Braves to overtake the Nats for the division crown, though four games remain between the two teams. The beneficiary of last night’s victory, played before an excited crowd of nearly 30,000 partisans, was Jordan Zimmermann, who threw six complete innings in picking up his eleventh win on the season.

The Washington victory marked another great game for hot-hitting first sacker Adam LaRoche, who was 2-3 with two RBIs on the night. “It feels like we’re just that much closer,” LaRoche told the press after the victory. “Not to take anything for granted until this thing is sewn up, but these are big. This time of year, playing the team chasing you, to be able to win a couple.”

While the game dimmed the end-of-season prospects for the Braves, Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman said his team wasn’t about to give up. “We still have a chance,” Freeman said. “Once we’re fully eliminated from the division race, then we’ll worry about the wild card.”

Atlanta attempted to climb back into the game by putting two runs on the board in the fourth and sixth innings, which included a home run off the bat of Justin Upton. But other than the Upton home run, righty Jordan Zimmermann was steady and efficient in setting down Atlanta hitters.

“I felt OK. I didn’t have my best stuff. The fastball was like a tick off. I ran into some deep counts,” Zimmermann said of his six inning outing. “A couple of at-bats by Bonifacio cost me 15 to 20 pitches. That’s why I wasn’t able to go longer. Overall, I felt OK. It was just a little bit of a battle tonight.”

As has now become common practice, Nats manager Matt Williams successfully mixed and matched his relievers against Atlanta’s long-ball hitting line-up. Aaron Barrett, Ross Detwiler and Craig Stammen took the Nationals through the end of the eighth inning, while Drew Storen notched his third save in a row and his fourth on the season.

The game began modestly enough, with Washington’s Doug Fister facing off against Pirate ace Edinson Volquez. Fister had his usual ace stuff, allowing just five hits and no earned runs (the Pirates scored two in the 6th on two D.C. errors), while striking out five before being lifted after seven complete for 8th inning relief whiz Tyler Clippard.

Volquez was nearly as good (he’s 10-7 on the season, and is a workhorse), though he gave up a single earned run through 6.1 innings, while notching five strikeouts. But in the bottom of the 7th frame, the Nationals put three runs on the board, when Michael Taylor was hit by a pitch, Kevin Frandsen and Denard Span singled — and the Nationals plated three runs on fielders choice singles off the bats of Asdrubal Cabrera and Anthony Rendon.

Then, with the Nationals leading 4-2 in the 9th inning (and coasting to a seemingly assured victory), it all fell apart for the home towners. With Rafael Soriano on the mound to close the game (and searching for his 30th save), the Pirates struck for three runs.

With Soriano slumping on the bench, reliever Matt Thornton got the Nationals out of the 9th, but the Nationals seemed deflated by the blown save — and headed for defeat. It was then that the fireworks began, courtesy of Jayson Werth, who’d been sidelined for the last week with a tweeky shoulder.

With one out in the 9th, Werth (who was hitting for Thornton) drew a walk from Pirates reliever Mark Melancon. Werth’s reappearance in the Nationals line-up reenergized the Nationals, with the right fielder advancing to third on a Denard Span single and scoring on a clutch fielders choice off the bat of Asdrubal Cabrera. Unaccountably, but dramatically, the Nationals had knotted the game at 5.

The dramatic Nationals fall, and rise, lasted through the scoreless 10th, with lefty reliever Ross Detwiler holding the Pirates scoreless. Then, in the bottom of the 11th, the Nationals walked off in dramatic fashion: on a Werth double, a move-em-over grounder to the right side from Denard Span and a game-winning sacrifice fly off the bat of uber-sub Scott Hairston.

“Today was a tribute to just the team mentality in general,” starter Doug Fister said of his team’s victory. “That’s a lesson learned for us, knowing that [if] something goes wrong, there’s 24 guys right behind you that pick you up. Whether it’s offense, whether it’s defense, guys are playing well together.”

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: The Pirates came into Washington with high hopes, but have now dropped five games in a row. “We get to play in front of 120,000 people over the weekend, playing a good team,” Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle said of his team’s effort. “Got to keep battling, score one more run than they — that didn’t happen for us this weekend . . .”

The three game Washington-Pirates set was worthy of October, with two walk-off Nationals wins and each game decided by a single run. The Nationals were saved from their sloppy play (two errors on Sunday that allowed two Pittsburgh runs, both in the 6th inning), by clutch at bats from Jayson Werth, Wilson Ramos, Denard Span and Scott Hairston . . .

Soriano began the catastrophic 9th by walking Casey McGehee, the Marlins’ lead-off hitter, then gave up a double to Garrett Jones. A Marcell Ozuna single then scored McGehee and Miami was suddenly in the game with no one out. Jones then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Adeiny Hechavarria then laced a triple, after Soriano gave up a wild pitch.

Even then, the Nats were still in the game, though Miami had tied it at six. But after closer Soriano hit Donovan Solano with a pitch, Nats manager Matt Williams pulled Soriano in favor of lefty Jerry Blevins. Blevins struck out Christian Yelich before giving up the game winning single to Jeff Baker.

The game was an absolute heart breaker for Nationals fans, who’d seen their team take two of three from Cincinnati and play well on the road. Before Monday night, it even looked as if the Nationals might put some distance between themselves and the second place Atlanta Braves, who scraped by the Padres, 2-0.

The loss came at the expense of Washington starter Jordan Zimmermann, who’d pitched one of his best games of the year. Zimmermann threw seven complete innings while giving up just four hits and striking out six. The young righty ace of the Nationals staff had a fastball that Miami’s hitters couldn’t seem to touch.

“He was really good tonight. He was down in the zone, he had a great slider,” Nats’ skipper Matt Williams said of Zimmermann’s outing. “Much better than his last one. The last one was just rust. Tonight, he proved that he is back on it.”

Ross Detwiler and Drew Storen came in in relief of Zimmermann, and while lefty Detwiler gave up a single run on two hits, the Nationals were still in line for the victory — with their top closer (“the best closer in the game,” as the Washington Post described him today) coming into the game.

“Bad day for me,” Soriano said of his performance in the ninth inning. “Every pitch that I threw, I had no command. Everything that I tried to throw didn’t work.”

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: The Marlins are trying to decide whether to be buyers or sellers, with the decision hinging on how they would do against the Nationals. Their stunning win tonight will undoubtedly help them to make the decision, though they remain under .500 by a single game and six games back in the standings . . .

It’s easy to see what the Marlins need: all you need do is take a look at their line-up. The Marlins can hit; they are an on-base team that registers just a tick above the Nationals in runs scored. That’s not true for their pitching staff, which ranks 11th in the National League with a 3.92 ERA . . .

The problem is that pitching isn’t that easy to find and Miami would probably hesitate to give up a top prospect for either a rental or a high-priced starter. Nor are the Marlins willing to part with any of their bullpen pieces, though they’ve reportedly received calls on fireballer Steve Cishek, who wracked up five saves in Miami’s just-completed 6-1 road trip . . .

The Washington Nationals relied on their starting staff, and the arms of Gio Gonzalez and Blake Treinen, on Saturday to sweep an unusual doubleheader in Chicago (the first since 1983) on scores of 3-0 and 7-2. The sweep of the twin bill followed on two successive losses to the last place Cubs, placing Washington’s hold on the top spot in the N.L. East in jeopardy.

While Nationals fans were treated to acrobatic plays from Denard Span in the 4th inning of the first game, it was Gio Gonzalez who dominated the game’s headlines, throwing seven innings of two hit baseball in shutting down a weak Cubs line-up. The Nationals capped their scoring in the first game victory in the 8th inning with a triple from Anthony Rendon (which scored Denard Span) and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Adam LaRoche.

Gonzalez now appears to be all the way back from the shoulder aches that sidelined him for two weeks. “Obviously coming (off) the DL and trying to work your way back is going to be a process,” Gonzalez said after the victory. “It’s not going to happen overnight. It’s good to see little by little using fastball and changeup at the same time. It’s good to know when you need them they’ll be there.”

“It’s important for us. I’m happy for him that he feels good about it and he’s had no shoulder issues, so that’s a good sign,” Nationals skipper Matt Williams said of Gonzalez’s recovery. “Velocity’s come back, the ability to throw all of his pitches for strikes is huge for him. He pitched really good.”

The Nationals leaped on Chicago pitching in the second game of the twin bill, notching seven runs on ten hits, victimizing Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija. The big blows came off the bats of Wilson Ramos, Kevin Frandsen and Jayson Werth in the four run fifth. The outburst followed on Adam LaRoche’s 11th home run in the 2nd and an Anthony Rendon sacrifice fly in the 3rd.

“They came out of the rain delay and they jumped on me right off the bat,” Samardzija said of the Nationals 5th inning rally. “They hit some fastballs over the plate and hit them up the middle and made me keep throwing pitches. They did a good job. They were ready out of the break. I probably needed to spin a couple more pitches and give them a different look.”

The Nationals victory also marked the first MLB career victory for rookie Blake Treinen, who threw five innings of four hit baseball in a game interrupted for one hour because of rain. “It means a lot,” Treinen said of his first victory. “I’m definitely excited, that’s for sure.”

Ryan Zimmerman’s two run home run in the top of the 16th inning was the difference in Washington’s 4-2 victory over the Brewers on Tuesday night (actually, Wednesday morning) — what went into the books as the longest game in Nationals history. By then, the Nationals had burned through their bullpen, and were set to send Adam LaRoche to the mound in the 17th.

While Zimmerman notched the game winning RBI, the Nationals bullpen was once again stellar. Jerry Blevins, Aaron Barrett, Craig Stammen, Ross Detwiler, Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard pitched the near-equivalent of a complete game, ending Milwaukee threats in the bottom of the 13th, 14th and 15th innings.

The Washington Post notes that the game used up “fifteen pitchers and 24 position players” and that “485 pitches were thrown and the teams combined for 111 at-bats.” By the time the game was over, Washington starter Jordan Zimmermann’s solid start (six innings, six hits, nine strike outs) was a fading memory.

Zimmermann had no-hitter stuff to begin the game, but the Brewers pressed him hard in the fourth and fifth innings. “The fourth and fifth were a little rough,” Zimmermann acknowledged on his outing. “First time through the lineup, I used the fastball and it was good. Second time through, they made some adjustments. I was leaving some balls up. They strung a few hits together.”

While it was Zimmerman who keyed the victory, much of the credit for the win must go to lefty Ross Detwiler, who threw four innings of four hit baseball in relief. It was, by far, Detwiler’s best outing of the year. “Det was above and beyond tonight,” manager Matt Williams said. “Going in, we had some guys that were feeling [tired], so we didn’t want to go to them. Turned out, we had to. Det was fantastic. He really stretched it for us.”

This was a big win for the Nationals, a victory over a tough team with a solid and power-packed line-up. The win kept Washington two games in front of Atlanta in the National League East and, after the Nationals throat gulping performance against the Cardinals, showed that the team can play tough against tough teams.

For the Brewers, on the other hand, the twin losses against the Nationals throw a shadow on a season that, at least so far, has been a dream. But despite the two losses, Milwaukee leads the National League in wins and they remain 4.5 games ahead of the Cardinals in the N.L. Central.

The Brewers loss squandered an excellent outing from Yovani Gallardo, who threw six innings while giving up just four hits. Like Washington, Milwaukee had to depend on its bullpen, with Mike Fiers pitching the last four innings of the marathon game and taking the loss.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: Theo Epstein’s Chicago Cubs, the doormat of the N.L. Central, have set a pattern — the front office accumulates veteran hurlers, then swaps them out for younger pieces. This has occurred in each of the last three years, with Epstein shipping aging arms Paul Maholm, Matt Garza and Scott Feldman hither and yon for younger arms and a handful of prospects and potentials . . .

Now, those swaps are starting to work out, and the future Cubbies are finally beginning to take shape. Fans of the North Siders could see that future on the mound at Wrigley last night, when former Orioles prospect Jake Arrieta continued his remarkable climb to prominence as a solid Cubs starter . . .

The Washington Nationals split the homestand against the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds three games to three, winning the first series and losing the second. It is tempting for the Nats Nation to blame this water-treading performance on having so many big bats out of commission: Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Adam LaRoche.

But we don’t buy it. Consider: when all three were healthy and just catcher Wilson Ramos and righty starter Doug Fister were on the DL, the longest winning streak the Nats put together lasted a measly four games.

Then too, Washington’s hitters won the series against the Madoffs in spite of the lengthy list of names on the DL. Starting pitchers Tanner Roark and Jordan Zimmermann were good, but not great, in their starts, and Gio Gonzalez tried to play through a sore shoulder and whiffed it.

The relief corps, as we’ve come to expect, did their jobs, giving up just four hits and no runs over thirteen total innings. Ian Desmond started to come alive at the plate, getting four hits, a walk, and four RBIs in the series, and Wilson Ramos notched five RBIs off a double, a single, and a sac fly.

The series loss against the Redlegs was a damn near thing, literally decided by inches (twice) in Game One. Credit where credit is due: Reds second-sacker Brandon Phillips and centerfielder Billy Hamilton made fantastic diving plays in the 12th and 15th innings to snuff potential Nats’ walk-offs. Ross Detwiler got the loss, but it’s hard to fault a guy (too much) for allowing a homer to arguably the Reds’ best infielder, Todd Frazier — who produced all series long.

Nats starters Stephen Strasburg and Fister were both great in their games, but Tanner Roark struggled. The Nats can take some satisfaction from having eatenRedlegs starter and best pitcher in the majors Johnny Cueto — plating eight runs against the now healthy (and now celebrated) righty. The Nats were good — yes — but the lineup was still milquetoast in the series.

Well, except for Denard Span who apparently heard all the criticisms being leveled at him — and responded by getting nine hits and four RBIs (including his first homer of the season) in the one game against Cincy that we can class a “laugher.”

The Washington Nationals had three extra inning opportunities to win Monday night’s 15 inning marathon against the Cincinnati Reds: in the bottom of the 12th (when Wilson Ramos lined out the second baseman Brandon Phillips), in the bottom of the 14th (when Anthony Rendon lined out to center) and again in the 15th — when Danny Espinosa took a Logan Ondrusek pitch deep to right.

It took amazing plays from the Reds, with a sprinkling of luck, but Cincinnati walked away with a win off the bat of Todd Frazier to win a 15 inning barn burner at Nationals Park, 4-3. The five hour endurance test (the official game length was 4:58), saw both teams use nearly every player — with a see-saw battle that was decided by a single swing of the bat.

The winning runs were finally scored in the top of the 15th inning, when center fielder Todd Frazier stroked a 2-1 change up from reliever Ross Detwiler into the left centerfield seats, scoring Brandon Phillips. Even then, however, the Nationals weren’t done, putting a single run on the board in the bottom of the frame (on a Jayson Werth double and Greg Dobbs single) before Espinosa’s final out.

The game started as a match-up of team aces, with Washington’s Stephan Strasburg throwing seven innings of six hit baseball and Mike Leake responding by throwing 6.2 innings while giving up a single run. Strasburg and Leake were nearly evenly matched, with similar finishing lines: both notched four strikeouts, while Leake gave up seven hits.

Cincinnati entered the game struggling at the plate, and nothing on Monday would have dissuaded their fans that their team has finally turned the corner. But the Nationals also proved punchless. The Reds were 2-24 with runners in scoring position, while the Nationals were 2-18.

Even so, it took some amazing plays for the Reds to win, including the two game-saving diving catches on scorching line drives (off the bats of Wilson Ramos and Anthony Rendon) that would have decided the game in the Nationals’ favor. So it was that the true heroes of the Monday endurance test were Brandon Phillips and Todd Frazier.

The Wisdom of Section 1-2-9: Cincinnati has some fans in D.C., but not many. All of them seemed to be in the section on Monday night. A young woman near the front of the section sported a Pokey Reese jersey, while her mate made do with a red-striped Sean Casey offering . . .

A Nationals fans, albeit one known for being a Nats’ critic, showed up, arguing that the Nationals might have done well to draft Mike Leake with their first pick in the 2009 draft. Instead, the Nationals drafted Stephen Strasburg with the first overall pick, while the Reds picked up Leake with the eighth . . .

The critic argued that Leake’s numbers are better than those put up so far by the Nationals’ righty: Leake has 44 career wins versus Strasburg’s 32. “Don’t be ridiculous,” a fellow 1-2-9 regular snapped. “If you’re Cincinnati’s G.M. right now and Mike Rizzo called proposing an even-up swap, you’d grab it.” The comment brought general assent from nearby regulars . . .

“And Leake hasn’t had his Tommy John [surgery] yet,” another 1-2-9 regular noted. The comment brought chuckles and a nod from the Leake fan: “You’ve got a point,” he responded. Then too, though no one mentioned it at the time: the win numbers are not the only numbers worth comparing. Strasburg has one shutout, one complete game (Leake has none) and a better ERA. Which is not to mention the gap in career strikeouts . . .